Plastic of Greed #PlanetorPlastic

Have you ever imagined swimming in translucent waters? Torquoise as the sun hits the waters? Clean and calm?

Have you ever imagined standing in the beach, the clean, clear and cool breeze brushing your hair as you stared at the waters of your home?

I have.

I was born and raised in a small island south of the Pacific. Yes, it was just a small, unknown island with a population of 89 people. But it was home.

I can still remember the white beach where I lay at night staring at the stars coating he night sky. Swimming in the cool, clean waters of my little island home.

I remember year after year, sea turtles would return to birth their young. And year after year return. I grew up around the ocean. My best friend.

Have you ever imagined swimming the depths of the large ocean? Imagined meeting the creatures of the deep, dark abyss? Imagined swimming fearlessly into the deep, exploring its timeless and untouched beauty?

I have.

And I did. I was 23 when I first went diving to the deepest parts with my colleagues at a research institute. It was beautiful, more so than I ever imagined! It was... magnificent. One I know I will never forget.

Have you ever imagined swimming in the big, blue, ocean? Imagined the colorful fishes, the unique and diverse corals? Seen the creatures freely moving and living?

I have. All my life. And I lived my dreams, my imaginations.

But what if, instead of seeing beauty, instead of seeing creatures of the depth coming to meet you as you went diving the first time in your enyire life, you saw something else greet you? Something unexpected?

During my second time of diving, 3 years later, I saw something that haunted my dreams and still haunts me to this day.

Plastic.

I saw a piece of plastic cellophane coming up to greet me. I thought my eyes were decieving me and it was just a jellyfish I mistook for something else. But no, it was real.

I hurriedly returned that day to my small island. And what I saw, shook me to my core. Hotels of varying heights and styles greeted me. Restaurants of Michelin stars and high end casinos of bright colors and neon lights welcomed me. I remember sinking to the sand as I prayed my eyes were decieved once more and that I was merely trapped in a nightmare. But I wasn't.

I was only gone for 6 years... and now, this was what my home had become. An island playground for the rich.

I asked the locals if the turtles returned.. No, they said. For almost 4 years they have stopped returning.

That year changed me. That day opened my mind, that my safe haven was now destroyed.

And so I fought back. You can't fight progress they said. And I knew I wasn't fighting progress. I was fighting greed.

"I am not fighting progress, I am fighting greed."